I needed a change, fitness-wise. I was getting bored and, as much as I love to Zumba with the best of them, a girl can’t live on Zumba alone. And then, the other night, at Dick’s, I decided what that change would be.

I grabbed about a dozen different sizes of bathing suits (what the FORK is racing suit sizing?! Luckily I found this website to help with bathing suit size conversion). After wiggling, jumping, hopping, and tugging the bathing suit (which I’ll now refer to as a batherbecause that’s my term of choice) into place, losing any and all sex appeal, and ogling my goodies in the mirror, I knew it was the right move. It’s the TYR Women’s Alliance Team T-Splice Maxback Tank Swimsuit Doesn’t that sound badass?

And, since my mom loves me, she treated me to my newest workout gear.

For whatever reason, I already have goggles. They’ve been sitting next to my tower fan for over a year now and, honestly, I just needed a reason to look fiercer than I normally look.

And, when I was at the store looking at swim caps, I thought “Go big, or go home” and grabbed the neon pink latex cap.

It’s funny, when I was younger (from about 7-13) I was a HARDCORE swimmer. Practicing all my days (summer and winter), a bather was my second skin, and I was so fast at flipping a swim cap on, you’d think I was born to be bald.  But, when I got to a point where the juice wasn’t exactly “worth the squeeze” I transitioned to the “tall girl sports” of basketball and volleyball, leaving the chlorine and swimmer’s ear behind. As I fiddled with my swim cap, wondering how on earth all my hair was going to get in that latex glove, I actually had to give myself a pep talk.

Come on, Jordan. You’ve done this THOUSANDS of times before. Your head can’t be that big, right?

Well, I was correct and after no more than 4 failed attempts at donning the proper head gear, I was ready to do the damn thing.

I headed over to the pool, dove in, and it just felt so right.  I’ve never liked running, so I can’t just “throw on some shoes and run.”  I can, however, throw on a bather and swim.  So I did.

I swam 40 laps, alternating freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke.  After that, I grabbed a kickboard and did ten laps of kicking (again, either freestyle, breaststroke, or backstroke).  I felt so strong, I was breathing hard, and my total yardage was 1,250.  That’s 510 yards short of a MILE!! And I think that’ll be what I can shoot for, next time.

This is the perfect addition to my workout repertoire.  It’s a full body workout, it’s low impact, AND it lets me live out my Mermaid Woman dreams in a safe and healthy fashion.  Win, win, win, all around.

Have you ever picked up a sport or hobby you left for years?  How’d it go?